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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26357590">pass me feathers for our wings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloominsummer/pseuds/bloominsummer'>bloominsummer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Pilots, Domestic Bliss, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Sexual Content</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:35:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,277</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26357590</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloominsummer/pseuds/bloominsummer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Wonwoo, Mingyu loved the time after the evening twilight. He especially loved flying at these hours—he’d be up above with all of the splendour the world has to offer around him, surrounding him, as if the sky has a mouth and he’s navigating through its oesophagus, glittered with stars. But stars… have nothing on Jeon Wonwoo.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>298</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>pass me feathers for our wings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have no explanation, apologies.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">The first time Mingyu takes Wonwoo’s hand, it wasn’t on the waiting room waiting to board their first flight together—First Officer Kim sitting to the right of the cockpit in Captain Jeon’s aircraft. It wasn’t in the fast-track line to clear immigration, eager to crash in the company-given accommodation with the barely passable mattress. It wasn’t across the master switch, where the brushing of tender fingertips over the back of hand turn into a firm hold.</p><p class="p1">It was way, way back before.</p><p class="p1">Back in the academy, when Mingyu fell off his ass doing one of the movement training obstacles. He had hurt his elbow, scraped it rather badly, but it was nothing compared to the dent the fall had made on his pride. Then he looked up, and God’s greatest gift was staring back at him with a hand outstretched and Mingyu took it without a second thought. There were chatters, faint laughter in the background—at his expense, no doubt—but all Mingyu could hear after was the soothing lilt of Wonwoo’s voice.</p><p class="p1">“Keep your head up,” he said, “or you’ll never go where you want to.” He pointed to the blue vastness above their heads before walking away, leaving Mingyu to stare after his trail, the lingering presence occupying warm air.</p><p class="p1">Wonwoo had disappeared that day without Mingyu ever learning his name. Now and then, he’d catch glimpses of the older man; a scrunch of the nose, a furrow of the brows, a frown turned upside down upon the arrival of friends. But they were enrolled in different years and Mingyu fought the whole world including his parents to take up aviation, so he took Wonwoo’s advice, kept his head high and looked straight up at the sky. No distractions.</p><p class="p1">3 years passed in the blink of an eye. Mingyu took his medical certificate, obtained his private pilot license, gathered up the hours before he got the commercial license. He didn’t see Wonwoo again. Whenever life throws lemons at him, though, Mingyu would tilt his head upward while he makes his lemonade. It’s always been the goal from the beginning—to fly as high as he can.</p><p class="p1">As life would have it, their paths crossed again after almost a decade. Mingyu was a hairsbreadth away from becoming a Captain in his own rights, then an enticing job opportunity dropped in his lap. The benefits were far too great to pass up, so he took the backseat and reverted to the comfort of being a First Officer for just a little longer.</p><p class="p1">And then—Wonwoo.</p><p class="p1">Wonwoo, almost dazzlingly bright, like the lights put on landing strip to tell you where to go, give you a sense of direction. <em>Here</em>. Wonwoo, smiling, his palm sliding across Mingyu’s own, the words <em>hey, I know you </em>seemingly formed by his mouth though Mingyu heard nothing but the rush of his own heart, roaring in triumph. Wonwoo, scrolling through the operating handbook before each and every flight, bottom lip tugged between teeth.</p><p class="p1">Before Wonwoo, Mingyu loved the time after the evening twilight. He especially loved flying at these hours—he’d be up above with all of the splendour the world has to offer around him, <em>surrounding</em> him, as if the sky has a mouth and he’s navigating through its oesophagus, glittered with stars. But stars… have nothing on Jeon Wonwoo. Stars lack the light hidden in his laughter, lack the radiance Mingyu saw emanating from him, lack the <em>gravity</em> that drew Mingyu closer.</p><p class="p1">One afternoon they strolled around Seoul and Mingyu took Wonwoo’s hand in his, pressed a kiss to his lips and felt the surprised gasp that escaped through the shadowed gap in between. He pulled back, an apology ready to be vocalised. It was right there, at the tip of his tongue, and Wonwoo erased it along with whatever other thoughts Mingyu might have had when he yanked him back in by the collar of his shirt, slotting their mouths at a better angle the second time around.</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">Four months into the relationship and they went to Human Resources together, signed the consensual relationship agreement form, and walked out of the room hand in hand. All the way to the elevator, all the way to Wonwoo’s car, all the way back to Mingyu’s place.</p><p class="p1">Mingyu didn’t have to be in the cockpit anymore to <em>fly</em>. All he had to do was reach out to Wonwoo and find the heart that beat in tandem with his. Suddenly, Paris was no longer the city of love. Or, more accurately, it was no longer the <em>only</em> city of love. Instead, it was all the cities where he and Wonwoo found themselves together in, walking down the streets with fingers interlinked and smiled matched. Hotels still smelled like detachment, but the company booked them one room instead of two separate ones to cut down on expenditure and Mingyu couldn’t complain, <em>wouldn’t</em> complain, as all the intimacy he needed was in the form of Wonwoo.</p><p> </p><hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">Four years into the relationship and Wonwoo filed a request with management to not operate the same flight with Mingyu again, preferring the termination of his contract over the scenario.</p><p class="p1">Even with the sun staring right at him through the cockpit, Mingyu’s days were gloomy.</p><p class="p1">The friends they have made over the years of working in the airline quickly took notice of this particular change. Mingyu suspected it began with Seungkwan, ever the pioneer when it came to gossips, and snowballed to everyone else. There was very little he could do to hide it and he’d given Wonwoo his words not to speak about the situation to anyone, so he told them he was fine, everything was fine, and they didn’t have to worry.</p><p class="p1">Cue to Seokmin worrying himself to a state of constipation and Jeonghan refusing to stand aside while his boyfriend was visibly distressed over a relationship that wasn’t even his own. So Mingyu and Wonwoo both got invited to a party; an intervention, an attempt at reconciliation, an ambush in disguise.</p><p class="p1">It was priceless—the identical dumbfounded look on everyone’s faces when Mingyu held open the door to Seokmin’s place to let Wonwoo inside; a living, breathing bundle of joy propped on his hip.</p><p class="p1">“You have a baby,” Jeonghan pointed out.</p><p class="p1">“We have a baby!” said Wonwoo, swaying Naeun to the side a little, her chubby little fingers curled around the gold chain adorning his neck.</p><p class="p1">“<em>Wait—who has a baby</em>?” and of course it was Seungcheol Face-timing them on Hansol’s phone, away on duty but not wanting to miss the opportunity to meddle in any way he can as the eldest of their circle. “<em>My connection is so bad, hello?</em>”</p><p class="p1">Naeun was the star of the show that night and Mingyu truly believed he got her charms from Wonwoo, already taking after her father’s best qualities at such an early age. He watched Seungkwan from his spot on the couch, the flight attendant currently sniffing the hell out of his daughter’s head while Hansol was holding her up. Seokmin came over to him just as his attention shifted to the blinding beam on Wonwoo’s face.</p><p class="p1">“I seriously thought you broke up,” he began.</p><p class="p1">“I know.” Mingyu did.</p><p class="p1">“And now you have a child together,” he said again.</p><p class="p1">Mingyu smiled. “I know.”</p><p class="p1">“Then why… why don’t you want to operate together anymore?”</p><p class="p1">He put a hand on Seokmin’s knee. “Because if anything happens to our flight, at least this way it won’t happen to both of us simultaneously, you know? God forbid, but... yeah. We wanted to be safe. Didn't want her to risk losing us two in one go.”</p><p class="p1">They talked about this, long and hard, because it hadn’t mattered as much before Naeun came around. Whenever they flew together before, everything they had was in that cockpit and it was important to know that. The sentiment changed as they have someone waiting for their return now.</p><p class="p1">“Christ,” Seokmin sighed heavily, but it was mostly in relief. “You couldn’t have just told me that?”</p><p class="p1">“Sorry,” offered Mingyu, as sincere as he can. “Wonwoo's superstitious about this and the adoption process wasn’t exactly without its turbulences. We didn’t want to jinx it.”</p><p class="p1">“Fine,” he sunk into the couch and melted against the velvet cushion. “I suppose that makes sense.”</p><p class="p1">Mingyu patted his knee once before he turned to Seokmin and grinned. Seokmin squinted his eyes at him in return, clearly suspicious, and he had all the right to feel so. This time, at least, his gut feeling wouldn’t betray him.</p><p class="p1">“What?” he asked.</p><p class="p1">“You wanna be a godfather?”</p><p class="p1">He got a choked out sob in response and then a lap full of Lee Seokmin. Wonwoo caught his eyes from across the room and mouthed a question: <em>was that a </em><em>yes?</em> Mingyu just raised both brows because he thought the scene of Seokmin bawling was an answer in its own. It took Seokmin almost an hour to calm down and the endless repetition of <em>why me</em> <em>why me I don’t know anything about babies</em> until he’s placated enough to listen to Wonwoo’s reason.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Because we want her to grow up with love, and who better to give her that than the man who can’t even stomach the thought of his closest friends suffering?</em>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><hr/><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">“Seokmin genuinely thought we broke up,” says Mingyu later, once they’ve safely returned to their own residence and Naeun’s sleeping safe and sound in her crib.</p><p class="p1">Wonwoo chuckles at that, a sound that seemingly can still make Mingyu’s heart race even after all these years.</p><p class="p1">“You did go around moping like it was the end of the world,” he points out. “It’s not impossible for him to think that.”</p><p class="p1">“It was the end of an <em>era</em>,” Mingyu replies defensively. “I’ll forever miss flying with you. It'll be like a toothache that never goes away."</p><p class="p1">“But it’s worth it, right?”</p><p class="p1">His lover glances at the baby monitor above their nightstand, Naeun still sleeping soundly from what’s visible on the screen and through the radio.</p><p class="p1">Mingyu wants to tell him all about the one morning this week when he woke up with two weights above his chest. Wonwoo’s head on one side, Naeun’s entire body on the other. She’d been cranky the night before and every time Mingyu left her inside her cradle, she would wail in protest, therefore he had carefully brought her to bed with him. Both Naeun and Wonwoo were drooling the same small, wet patch onto Mingyu’s sleep shirt and he had to resist the urge to laugh so he wouldn’t disturb their rest.</p><p class="p1">“You know it is,” he answers in a soft voice, reaching for Wonwoo.</p><p class="p1">Wonwoo takes his hand.</p><p class="p1">He doesn’t let go. Not even as they tumble into bed together, not even when the bed creaks underneath their combined weight, not even as he turns Mingyu on his stomach. Wonwoo’s fingers are wound tight around his, as tight as the coil in Mingyu’s stomach that begins to build. The kisses Wonwoo trails down his spine gives way to lightning, striking Mingyu in his spot with no possible revocation to its claim.</p><p class="p1">“Shhh,” Wonwoo whispers into his ear the same way he lulls Naeun to sleep, “we don’t want to wake up the little one, do we?”</p><p class="p1">Who says life gets boring when you become parents, huh?</p><p class="p1">Mingyu shakes his head vigorously. His cheek rubs against the pillowcase and starts to heat up from the friction, matching the temperature of his body. Then Wonwoo slips inside him, settles inside him like Mingyu is home, and his soul is transported to 35000 feet above sea level.</p><p class="p1">It’s crazy. Indescribable. The way Wonwoo spills <em>Mingyu</em> from his mouth like it’s the first word he ever learned, the one he knows how to say the best, the initial name mentioned in his prayers. Mingyu remembers their first meeting, a happenstance, a prologue.<em> Keep your head up, or you’ll never go where you want to. </em>He cranes his neck for a kiss and Wonwoo complies, tongue sliding with his own as he thrusts inside Mingyu again, again, and again. <em>I’m here.</em> <em>Look at me. I made it. </em><em>I’m</em><em> where I want to be</em>.</p><p class="p1">“Hyung,” Mingyu pants, feeling himself throb down south like there is no tomorrow. “Hyung, <em>hyung</em>.” He hears a low grunt followed by blunt nails digging into the meat of his hips and Mingyu’s ascending higher. “Wonwoo-yah.”</p><p class="p1">The sensation will never die down, Mingyu thinks, having Wonwoo pour himself inside of him. It will never die down because Mingyu fuels it, Wonwoo fuels it, and the fire keeps them both alive. Alive for each other, alive for their daughter. He smiles into the crook of his elbow and subsequently muffles a moan there, because Wonwoo’s reached around and wrapped his hand around Mingyu, strokes languid but practised.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>The higher you fly, the further you fall.</em>
</p><p class="p1">“No,” Wonwoo taps his nose with an index finger, making Mingyu realised that in his afterglow, he’s managed to say those words aloud. “The saying is: the higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.”</p><p class="p1">He kisses him again, tasting Wonwoo’s affection coating his tongue.</p><p class="p1">“You ready for landing, Captain Kim?”</p><p class="p1">Mingyu is beyond ready, so he pulls the covers over the two of them and presses his mouth to Wonwoo’s temple once more. Their rest won’t be peaceful because Naeun will wake up three times before dawn, calming down only when she can sense both her fathers in the room with her. It doesn’t matter, because when she takes one of Mingyu’s fingers in her entire fist, this is the second set of hands Mingyu plans on never letting go.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>written in like 2 hours im sorry this was meant to be a 500-word drabble what T_T</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/bioominsummer/status/1303322620859830273">twt</a> | <a href="curiouscat.me/bloominsummer">cc</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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